The MBTA is one of only two U.S. transit agencies that operate all
of the five major types of transit vehicles: regional (commuter)
rail trains, "heavy" rapid transit (subway/elevated) trains, light
rail vehicles (trolleys), electric trolleybuses and motor buses.
The other is Philadelphia's Southeastern
Pennsylvania Transportation Authority .

The MBTA is the largest consumer of electricity in
Massachusetts,and the second-largest land owner after the Department
of Conservation and Recreation.As of 2007, its CNG bus fleet
was the largest consumer of alternative fuels in the state.

On June 26, 2009, Governor Deval
Patrick signed a law to place the MBTA along with other state
transportation agencies within the administrative authority of the
Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), with the MBTA
now part of the Mass Transit division (MassTrans).The 2009
transportation law continued the MBTA corporate structure and
changed the MBTA board membership to the five Governor-appointed
members of the Mass DOT Board.

History

Planned West End Street Railway
system, 1885; consolidation of these lines was complete by
1887.

Mass transportation in Boston was provided by private companies,
often granted charters by the state legislature for limited
monopolies, with powers of eminent domain to establish a right-of-way, until the creation of
the MTA in 1947. Development of mass transportation followed both
existing economic and population patterns, and helped shape those
patterns.

Shortly
after the steam locomotive became
practical for mass transportation, the private Boston and Lowell Railroad was
chartered in 1830, connecting Boston to Lowell, a major northerly mill town, via one of the
oldest railroads in
North America. This marked the beginning of the
development of intercity railroads, which would in later become the
MBTA Commuter Rail system and the Green Line
"D" Branch. In the mid-nineteenth century, a profusion of
streetcar lines appeared in Boston under chartered companies.
Later, many of these companies consolidated and animal-drawn
vehicles were converted to electric propulsion.

Streetcar
congestion in downtown Boston led to the establishment of subway and elevated rail, the former
established in 1897 and the latter in 1901, resulting in the
Tremont Street
Subway, the first active subway in the United
States. These grade-separated
railways both added additional transportation capacity and avoided
delays caused by intersections with cross streets.The first
elevated railway and the first rapid transit line in Boston came
three years before the first underground line of the New York City Subway, but long after
the first elevated railway in New York.

Various extensions and branches were built to the subway in both
directions, bypassing more surface tracks. As more elevated lines
were built, more and more streetcar lines were cut back for faster
downtown service.

The old elevated railways proved to be an eyesore and required
several sharp curves in Boston's twisty streets. The Atlantic Avenue Elevated was closed
in 1938 amidst declining ridership and was demolished in 1942. As
rail passenger service became increasingly unprofitable, largely
due to the rising automobile ownership,
government takeover prevented abandonment and dismantlement of the
systems. The MTA purchased and took over subway, elevated,
streetcar, and bus operations from the Boston Elevated Railway in
1947.

On August 3, 1964, the MBTA succeeded the MTA, with an enlarged
service area. The original MTA district of 14 cities and towns was
expanded to 78 cities and towns. The MBTA was formed partly to
subsidize existing commuter rail
operations. As this happened, the MBTA acquired lines in stages
from 1973 through 1976 amidst large cutbacks in service and
coverage area. Since then, many of these lines have seen service
return.

The MBTA assigned colors to its four rapid transit lines in 1965,
and lettered the branches of the Green Line from north to south.
However, shortages of streetcars, among other factors, caused bus
substitution of rail service on two branches of the Green Line. The
"A" Branch ceased operating in 1969 as a
rail service.The portion of the "E"
Branch from Heath
Street to Arborway was replaced by buses in 1985.

The MBTA purchased bus routes in the outer suburbs to the north and
south from the Eastern Massachusetts
Street Railway in 1968.As with the commuter rail system, many
of the outlying routes were dropped shortly before or after the
takeover due to low ridership and high operating costs.

In the 1970s, the MBTA received a boost from the Boston Transportation
Planning Review areawide re-evaluation of the role of mass
transit relative to highways. Producing a moratorium on highway
construction inside Route 128, numerous mass transit lines were
planned for expansion by the Voorhees-Skidmore, Owings and
Merrill-ESL consulting team. The removal of elevated lines continued and
the closure of the Washington Street Elevated brought the end of
rapid transit service to the Roxbury neighborhood. Between 1971 and 1985, the
Red Line was extended both north and
south, providing not only additional subway system coverage, but
also major parking structures at several of
the terminal and intermediate stations.

In the 21st century

By 1999, the district was expanded further to 175 cities and towns,
adding most that were served by or adjacent to commuter rail lines,
though the MBTA did not assume responsibility for local service in
those communities adjacent to or served by commuter rail.

A turning point in funding occurred in 2000. Prior to July 1, 2000,
the MBTA was reimbursed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for
all costs above revenue collected (net cost of service). Beginning
on that date, the T was granted a dedicated revenue stream
consisting of amounts assessed on served cities and towns, along
with a dedicated 20% portion of the 5% state sales tax. The MBTA now must live within this
"forward funding" budget.

The
Commonwealth assigned to the MBTA responsibility for increasing
public transit to compensate for increased automobile pollution
from the Big
Dig. The T submerged a nearby portion of the
Green Line and rebuilt Haymarket and North Stations during Big Dig
construction, however these projects have strained the MBTA's
limited resources since the Big Dig project did not include funding
for these improvements. Since 1988, the MBTA has been the fastest
expanding transit system in the country, even as Greater Boston has been the slowest growing
metropolitan area.When, in 2000, the MBTA's budget became limited,
the agency began to run into debt from scheduled projects and
obligatory Big Dig remediation work, which have now given the MBTA
the highest debt of any transit authority in the country. In an
effort to compensate, rates underwent an appreciable hike on
January 1, 2007. Increasingly, local advocacy groups are calling on
the state to assume $2.9 billion of the authority's now approximate
debt of $9 billion, the interest on which severely limits funds
available for required projects.

In 2006, the creation of the MetroWest Regional Transit
Authority saw Framingham, Natick, Weston, Sudbury, Wayland,
Marlborough, Ashland, Sherborn, Hopkinton, Holliston, and
Southborough subtract their MWRTA assessment from their MBTA
assessment. Communties that are also members of other RTAs such as
CATA, MVRTA, LRTA, WRTA, GATRA, and BAT may also subtract their RTA
assessment from their MBTA assessment. The amount of funding the
MBTA received remained the same; the assessment on remaining cities
and towns increased but is still allocated by the same
formula.

The General Manager, Daniel Grabauskas, revealed in 2008 that the
MBTA cut trips from published train and bus schedules without
informing passengers, referred to as “hidden service cuts”, saying
this misrepresentation of service had been happening for years.
Grabauskas said this practice has been ended.

On May 28, 2008, a westbound trolley on the Green Line "D" Branch slammed into a stopped
train between the Waban and
Woodland stations shortly
after 6 p.m. At least seven people were injured and the operator of
the moving train, identified as Terrese Edmonds, 24, was
killed.

On May 8, 2009, two Green Line trolleys collided between Park
Street and Government Center when the driver of one of the
trolleys, 24-year-old Aiden Quinn, was text messaging his
girlfriend while driving the train.A tougher policy on cell phones
was put in place by the MBTA.

Within MBTA's bus service area, transfers from the subway
are free if using a
CharlieCard (for local buses); transfers
to the subway require paying the difference between bus
and the higher subway fare (for local buses; if not using a
CharlieCard, full subway fare must be paid in addition to full bus
fare). Bus-to-bus transfers (for local buses) are free unless
paying cash. Many of the outlying routes run express along major
highways to downtown. The buses are colored yellow on maps and in
station decor.

The Silver Line is the MBTA's
first service designated as bus rapid
transit, even though it lacks many of the characteristics of
bus rapid transit. The first segment, replacing the 49 bus, which
in turn replaced the Washington Street Elevated
section of the Orange Line, began
operations in 2002, with free transfers to the subways downtown
until January 1, 2007, when the fare system was revised. The
"Washington Street" segment runs along various downtown streets,
and mostly in dedicated bus lanes on
Washington Street itself. It is categorized as a "bus" service for
fare purposes.

The
"Waterfront" section opened at the end of 2004, and connects
South
Station to South Boston, partly via
a tunnel and partly on the surface. These buses run
dual-mode, trackless trolley in the
tunnel and diesel bus outside.
Service
to Logan
Airport began in June 2005. The Waterfront segment
is classified as a "subway" for fare purposes.

A third, tunneled segment is proposed to connect the two lines for
through service. Currently a transfer between phases is possible at
South Station. "Phase 3" is controversial due to its high cost and
the fact that many do not consider Phase I to be adequate
replacement service for the old Elevated.

Current plans include more bus rapid transit routes, including the
Urban Ring, intended to
expand upon existing Crosstown Buses.

The MBTA contracts with private bus companies to provide subsidized
service on certain routes, outside of the usual fare structure.
These are known collectively as the HI-RIDE Commuter Bus service,
and are not numbered or mapped in the same way as integral bus
services.

In FY2005, there were on average 363,500 weekday boardings of
MBTA-operated buses and trackless trolleys (not including the
Silver Line), or 31.8% of the MBTA system. Another 4,400 boardings
(0.38%) occurred on subsidized bus routes operated by private
carriers.

In FY2005, there were on average 628,400
weekday boardings on the rapid transit and light rail lines
(including the Silver Line Bus Rapid Transit), or 55.0% of the MBTA
system.

The
Orange Line is so named because it used to run down Orange Street
(now lower Washington Street), the Green Line because it runs
adjacent to parts of the Emerald
Necklace, the Blue Line because it runs under Boston Harbor, and the Red Line because its
northernmost station used to be at Harvard University, whose school color is crimson.

The three rapid transit lines are incompatible; trains of one line
would have to be modified to run on another. Orange and Blue Line
trains are similar enough that modification of some Blue Line
trains for operation on the Orange Line was considered, although
ultimately rejected for cost reasons; some of the new Blue Line
cars from Siemens Transportation have
been tested on the Orange Line after-hours before acceptance for
revenue service on the Blue Line. There are no direct track
connections between lines, except between the Red Line and
Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line, but all except the Blue Line have
currently unused connections to the national rail network, which have been
used for deliveries.

A segment of Green Line tunnel from Park Street opened in 1897,
making it the first subway in the United States. The downtown
portions of what are now the Green, Orange, Blue, and Red lines
were all in service by 1912. Additions to the rapid transit network
occurred in most decades of the 1900s, and continue in the 2000s
with the addition of Silver Line bus
rapid transit and planned Green Line expansion. (See History
and Future plans sections.)

There is no passenger connection between the two sides.
The
opportunity for North-South Rail
Link, in association with the burying of the Central
Artery in the Big Dig was furthered by designing the Big Dig tunnel to
permit the construction of a rail bed below the level of the
automobile roadbeds.Passengers continue to take the Orange
Line between Back Bay and North Station, or the Red and Orange, or
Red and Green Lines between South and North Stations, or take a
bus or taxicab.

A south side commuter rail line, the Greenbush Line, recently completed
construction and testing and opened for commuting on Wednesday,
October 31, 2007a south-side branch to Fall
River and New Bedford is in the planning stages.Trackage exists to
extend the Middleborough/Lakeville Line to
restore passenger service to Cape Cod, formerly part of the Old Colony Railroad lines. The
Commuter Rail system has used the color purple on train cars and
system maps since October 8, 1974, and consequently it is sometimes
called the "Purple Line."

Each Commuter Rail line is divided into up to 9 fare zones
(previously 10 on some lines), numbered 1A, and 1 through 8. Riders
are charged based on the number of zones they travel through.
Tickets can be purchased on the train or at designated ticket
vendor locations near major stations. If a local vendor is
available, riders must purchase a ticket before boarding to avoid a
surcharge. Fares range from $1.70 to $7.75, with multi-ride and
monthly passes available. In FY2005, there were on average 135,900
weekday boardings, which was 11.9% of the MBTA system as a
whole.

The MBTA commuter rail line is the first in the nation to offer
free wi-fi.After a successful test on the Framingham/Worcester
line, the MBTA added wi-fi to all its cabs in December, 2008, at a
rate of approximately thirty cabs per month. The project was
scheduled for completion at the end of Spring, 2009.

All boat services are operated by private
sector companies under contract to the MBTA. In FY2005, the
MBTA boat system carried 4,650 passengers (0.41% of total MBTA
passengers) per weekday.The service is provided through contract of
the MBTA by Boston Harbor Cruises (BHC) and Water Transportation
Alternatives, Inc. (WTAI) under the name Boston's Best
Cruises.

Paratransit

The MBTA contracts out operation of The RIDE, an on-demand pickup
and dropoff service for people with mobility challenges. Paratransit services carry 5,400 passengers on a
typical weekday, or 0.47% of the MBTA system. Among the private
sector companies under contractual agreement for THE RIDE service
are: Greater Lynn Senior Services, (GLSS), Veterans Transportation
LLC., TTI/YCN Joint Venture, LLC, and Kiessling Transit.

Parking

The MBTA operates park and ride
facilities at many outlying stations, with a total capacity of
almost 46,000 automobiles. The number of spaces at stations with
parking varies from a few dozen to over 2,500. The larger lots and
garages are usually near a major highway exit. Lots often fill up
during the morning rush hour. There are some 22,000 spaces on the
southern portion of the commuter rail system, 9,400 on the northern
portion and 14,600 at subway stations. The parking fee for a day
were raised by $2 on November 15, 2008 to $7.00 at subway parking
garages, $5.00 to $6.00 at subway surface lots, $4.00 at commuter
rail surface lots, and $3.00 at commuter ferry lots. Most stations
also have parking racks for bicycles.
Management for a number of parking lots owned by the MBTA are
managed by LAZ Parking Limited, LLC..

From time to time the MBTA has made various agreements with
companies that contribute to commuting options. One company the
MBTA selected was Zipcar; the MBTA currently
provides Zipcar with a limited number of parking spaces at various
subway stations throughout the system.[3009]

Public funding

Fares and fare collection

Beginning January 1, 2007, rapid transit trips (including rides on
the Green Line) cost $1.70 for CharlieCard holders, $2.00 for CharlieTicket or
cash payers. Bus and trackless trolley fares are $1.25 for
CharlieCard holders, $1.50 for others. Persons using CharlieCards
can transfer free from a subway to a bus, and from a bus to a
subway for the $0.45 difference in price. CharlieTicket holders can
transfer free between buses, but not from a subway to a bus. Cash
payers may only transfer between subway lines, as well as to and
from the Silver Line Washington Street, since it's considered Bus
Rapid Transit. (Example: Can transfer from Red to
Silver Line at South Station; Can transfer from
Green to Silver at Boylston St; Cannot transfer
from Green Line to #1 bus at Hynes)

Discounted fares (60 cents for the subway and 40 cents for local
buses) as well as discounted monthly link passes are available to
seniors over 65, and persons who are permanently disabled who
utilize a special photo Charlie Card (called "Senior ID" and
"Transportation Access Pass", respectively). Holders of these
passes are also entitled to 50% off the Commuter Rail. Persons who
are legally blind ride for free on all MBTA services (including
express buses and the Commuter Rail) with Blind Access Card.

Children 11 and under ride for free with an adult, and students
aged 12–17 receive a 50% discount on fares (or a monthly link pass
for $20) until 8 pm on school days. Student discounts require a
Student Charlie Card issued through the holder's school and is good
until around the time when school vacation begins.

The MBTA began collecting fares for outbound trips originating on
the surface part of the Green Line on January 1, 2007. The 2007
fare increase also eliminated exit fares at certain Red Line stops
and ended higher fares at inbound stops on the outer part of the
Green Line "D" Branch.

Monthly passes have been in use since the late 1980s. The MBTA also
sells one- and seven-day passes intended for use by visitors. These
visitor passes begin from the exact time of purchase at the vending
machine. However, for large orders, these visitor passes can be
ordered with an exact date if purchased through the MBTA bulk sales
in advance.

The fare
system, including on-board and in-station fare vending machines,
was purchased from German-based
Scheidt and Bachmann, which developed the technology. The
Charlie Cards were developed by Gemalto and later by Giesecke &
Devrient.

Budget

MBTA Operating Revenues

Revenue Source

Amount

(FY 2008 budget)

State Sales Tax

$756M

Fares

$430M

Municipal Assessments

$143M

Parking, Real Estate Tenants, etc.

$37.4M

Real Estate Sales and Misc.

$20.8M

Advertising

$11.0M

Federal government

$8.0M

Interest

$3.8M

Utility reimbursement from tenants

$2.8M

Total

$1,413M

The MBTA is funded primarily through 1% of the 6.25% state sales
tax, passenger fares, and formula assessments of the cities and
towns in its service area (excepting those which are assessed for
the MetroWest
Regional Transit Authority). Supplemental income is obtained
from its parking lots (reserved for passengers), renting space to
retail vendors in and around stations, rents from utility companies
using MBTA rights of way, selling surplus land and movable
property, advertising on vehicles and properties, and federal
operating subsidies for special programs.

The FY2008 budget includes $1,037M for operating expenses and $374M
in debt and lease payments.

The Capital Investment Program is a rolling 5-year plan which
programs capital expenses. The draft FY2009-2014 CIP allocates
$3,795M, including $879M in projects funded from non-MBTA state
sources (required for Clean Air Act
compliance), and $299M in projects with one-time federal funding
from the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Capital improvements and planning process

The Boston Metropolitan Planning
Organization is responsible for overall regional surface
transportation planning. As required by federal law for projects to
be eligible for federal funding (except earmarks), the MPO maintains a fiscally constrained
20+ year Regional Transportation Plan for surface transportation
expansion, the current edition of which is called Journey to
2030. The required 4-year MPO plan is called the
Transportation Improvement Plan.

The MBTA maintains its own 25-year capital planning document,
called the Program for Mass Transportation, which is fiscally
unconstrained. The agency's 4-year plan is called the Capital
Improvement Plan; it is the primary mechanism by which money is
actually allocated to capital projects. Major capital spending
projects must be approved by the MBTA Board, and except for
unexpected needs, are usually included in the initial CIP.

In addition to federal funds programmed through the Boston MPO, and
MBTA capital funds derived from fares, sales tax, municipal
assessments, and other minor internal sources, the T receives
funding from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for certain
projects. The state may fund items in the State Implementation Plan (SIP) -
such as the Big Dig mitigation projects - which is the plan
required under the Clean Air Act to
reduce air pollution. (As of 2007, all of Massachusetts is
designated as a clean air "non-attainment" zone.)

In 2005, the administration of then-governor Mitt Romney announced a long range
transportation plan that emphasized repair and maintenance over
expansion.

Due to the financial constraints on the MBTA budget, the Executive
Office of Transportation (controlled by the state governor and
headed by the Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation) has agreed
to plan and fund (through the state legislature) all expansion
projects beyond the Silver Line Phase 3 project (which will be
funded from MBTA capital budget and the federal New Starts program,
if approved). The T will continue to be financially responsible for
maintenance and enhancement of existing segments.

Projects underway

Blue Line

There is
a proposal to extend the Blue Line northward to Lynn,
Massachusetts, with two potential extension routes having been
identified. One proposed path would run through marshland
alongside the existing Newburyport/Rockport commuter rail
line, while the other would extend the line along the remainder
of the BRB&L right of
way. Construction is expected to begin in 2017.

Green Line

To settle
a lawsuit with the Conservation Law Foundation to
mitigate increased automobile emissions from the Big
Dig, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts agreed to extend
the Green Line north to Somerville and Medford, two suburbs currently underserved by the
MBTA.This plan would start at a relocated
Lechmere
Station, and terminate at Route 16 and Mystic Valley
Parkway in Somerville (on the Mystic
River), by the settlement-imposed deadline of December 31,
2014. There will be an expected daily ridership of
8,420.

Another
mitigation project in the initial settlement was restoration of
service on the "E" Branch between
Heath Street and
Arborway/Forest Hills. A revised settlement agreement resulted in
the substitution of other projects with similar air quality
benefits. The state Executive Office of Transportation promised to
consider other transit enhancements in the Arborway corridor.

Silver Line

Silver Line Phase III comprises
the connection of the two halves of the Silver Line via an
underground busway from Boylston station on the Green Line to South
Station. An initial proposed route involved a mile long tunnel with
a portal at Charles and Tremont Streets. [3010] The local Tufts Medical Center has vehemently
protested this proposal citing possible problems with traffic and
noise. Environmental review and preliminary engineering are
expected to be completed by the end of 2008. A federal funding
decision is expected in 2010, with possible construction starting
in 2011 and ending in 2016. The MBTA is managing project
planning.

Urban Ring

The
Urban Ring is a project of the
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, to develop new public transportation routes that
would provide improved circumferential connections among many
existing transit lines that project radially from downtown Boston, allowing easier travel to locations outside of
downtown.The project corridor passes through various
neighborhoods of Boston, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford, Somerville, Cambridge, and Brookline. The capital cost for this version of the
plan is estimated at $2.2 billion, with a projected daily ridership
of 170,000. Fifty-three percent of the route is either in a
bus-only lane, dedicated busway, or tunnel. The Urban Ring would
have a higher collective ridership than the Orange Line, Blue Line,
or the entire Commuter Rail system.

In September 2009, CSX
Transportation and the commonwealth finalized a $100 million
agreement to purchase CSX's Framingham to Worcester tracks, as well
as some other track, to improve service on the Framingham/
Worcester Line. A liability issue that had held up the agreement
was resolved.There is also a plan to upgrade the Fitchburg Line to have cab signaling and to construct a second track
along a seven mile stretch near Acton which is shared with freight
traffic, so that the Fitchburg to Boston trip will be able to take
only about an hour.

The
Commonwealth of Massachusetts agreed in 2005 to make improvements
on the Fairmount Line part of its legally binding commitment to
mitigate increased air pollution from the Big
Dig. These improvements must be complete by
December 31, 2011.Four new stations will be constructed.The total
cost of the project is estimated at $79.4 million, and will divert
220 trips from automobiles to transit.

No direct connection exists between North Station and South
Station. A North-South Rail
Link has been proposed to unite the two halves of the Commuter
Rail system; but, because of the high cost, Massachusetts has
withdrawn its sponsorship of the proposal, in communications with
the United States Department of Transportation.

Employees and unions

The MBTA currently employs 6,346 workers, of which roughly 600 are
in part-time jobs.)

Structurally, the employees of the MBTA function as part of a
handful of trade unions. The largest union of the MBTA is the
Carmen’s Union (Local 589), representing bus and subway operators.
This includes full and part-time bus drivers, motorpersons and
streetcar motorpersons, full and part-time train attendants, and
Customer Service Agents (CSAs). Further unions include: the
Electrical Workers Union, Local 717; the Welder's Union, Local 651;
the Executive Union; the Office and Professional Employees
International Union, Local 453; the Professional and Technical
Engineers Union, Local 105; and the Office and Professional
Employees Union, Local 6.

Within the authority, employees are ranked according to seniority (or "rating"). This is categorized by an
employee's five-digit badge number, though some of the longest
serving employees still have only four-digits. An employee's badge
number indicates the relative length of employment with the MBTA,
and are issued in subsequent order. The rating structure determines
many different things including the rank in which perks are to be
offered to employee such as: When offering the choice for
quarter-annual route assignments ("picks"), overtime offerings, and
even the rank to transfer new hires from part-time roles to a full
time role.

Law enforcement and security

The MBTA maintains its own police force which actively patrols all
areas and vehicles used by the Authority. MBTA Police conduct routine vehicle patrol,
routine foot patrol, incident investigations, and specialized
patrol with K-9 dogs, and other specialized methods of explosive
and narcotics detection.

The MBTA also maintains several closed circuit television
facilities located throughout its service area. The cameras monitor
various areas including trains stations, and MBTA vehicles
throughout the system on a 24 hour basis. MBTA phone numbers pasted
onto the front of the fare gates can place customers having a
problem directly into contact with one of these operations
centers.

Criticism

Ahead of the MBTA's 2009 restructuring with the Massachusetts
Department of Transportation (MassDOT), the MBTA had a total
debenture of over US$ 8 billion. As a
direct result, MBTA fares and parking fees have increased
significantly.In July 2009 the MBTA proposed a 20% fare increase
and significant service cuts. The MBTA has endured criticism that
the increases have outpaced inflation.

When the
Orange Line was realigned in the 1980s, its course was altered away
from lower income areas of Everett, Chelsea and Roxbury, where residents are less likely to own cars, and
depend more on public transit, toward more affluent towns of
Malden and Medford, as well as sections of the Jamaica Plain neighborhood (where car ownership is higher, and
thus, reliance on public transit is far lower). In response,
the MBTA built a bus line operated by articulated silver buses
equipped with specialized dispatching equipment. The MBTA named the
service the Silver Line, and
classified it alongside other rail-based mass transit services. The
service has been criticized in many respects, most notably for its
slow speed, and the fact that it utilizes the same roads as cars
and other "street" traffic, subsequently increasing gridlock and
collisions, earning it the nickname "Silver Lie" among many.

Transportation advocates in Boston have raised the issue that
residents cannot go from one outlying area to another without first
riding downtown and changing lines. The Urban Ring Project , which would
provide more circumferential service, is in the planning stages and
has largely not yet been implemented due to lack of funding.
This
problem also occurs in the Washington Metro's Red
Line , where customers cannot go from one side of Montgomery
County, MD to another without going through Downtown
Washington.

The T stops running at 12:45 a.m. each night, despite the fact that
bars and clubs in most areas of Boston are open until 2 a.m. Since
the MBTA's subway (unlike the New
York City subway) does not have parallel express and local
tracks, rail maintenance can only be done when the T is not
running, and "with a 109-year-old system", says the MBTA press
secretary, "you have to be out there every night". The T did
experiment with "Night Owl" bus service for several years in the
early 2000s, but abandoned it on account of the $7.53 per rider
cost to the MBTA to keep the service open, five times the cost of a
regular bus route.

here we go. The Red Line connection is at
JFK/UMass , the Orange Line at
Wellington (last used ca. 1981), and the
Green Line at Riverside . Trucks may also be used to
deliver train cars from the manufacturer. [2]